Leak: Samsung Galaxy S Advance: It’s just the Galaxy R, but with an AMOLED screen

We’re close to running out of fingers and toes to count the numerous variants that Samsung has created around their wildly successful Galaxy S and Galaxy S II chassis. Over in the Philippines some folks spotted a device called the Galaxy S Advance, otherwise known as the GT-I9070. It has a 4 inch AMOLED screen, dual core 1 GHz processor supposedly called the “Samsung Janice,” 5 megapixel rear facing camera, runs Android 2.3.6, and it’s got a 1500 mAh battery. If those specs sound familiar to you, then chances are you remember the Samsung Galaxy R. That device was announced back in August of last year and featured a 4.2 inch Super LCD, dual core 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 5 megapixel rear camera, and a 1,650 mAh battery. So why create the Galaxy S Advance? To tell you the truth, we have absolutely no idea. More details are likely going to be announced at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona, but the key data point we’re interested in is price. The guys who found this device lurking around South East Asia say it’s going to cost 22,900 Philippine pesos, which comes out to $535. At that point you might as well buy a Samsung Galaxy S II!

The bigger question here is how long can Samsung continue this nonsensical effort on differentiating their products by such insignificant little details? More product SKUs translates to more support costs, which in turn delays things like upgrades to newer versions of Android. Admittedly Samsung’s TouchWIZ is one of the least offensive Android skins out there, but still, Ice Cream Sandwich has been out for over two months now … why hasn’t it been ported to other devices yet?

What do you think: Is the Galaxy S Advance something you’d be interested in buying or is it just another variant of the Galaxy S that you can safely ignore?